Historical Study: The Remnant History of Mid-Acts Pauline Dispensationalism
“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery…”
– Ephesians 3:9 (KJB)
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Introduction
When we talk about Mid-Acts Pauline dispensational teaching, we are referring to a Bible study method and doctrinal stance that follows the apostle Paul’s unique revelation given to him by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. This message, called “the mystery” (Eph. 3:3–9; Col. 1:25–27; Rom. 16:25), was kept secret since the world began and reveals the nature, calling, and doctrine of the Body of Christ, distinct from Israel.
However, this doctrine has never been popular, nor has it been preserved through mainstream religious institutions. Instead, it has been known and preserved by faithful remnants throughout history individuals and small groups who stood apart from religious tradition and chose instead to believe Paul as the apostle of the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13).
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1. Paul’s Ministry: The Mystery Begins (Acts 9 – 2 Timothy)
• Paul was not one of the twelve and did not preach the same gospel as Peter (Gal. 2:7).
• He received his message not from man, but by direct revelation from Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:11–12).
• The mystery revealed to Paul was not known to the prophets (Eph. 3:5) and was hidden in God (Eph. 3:9), not hidden in Scripture.
• He revealed a new creature, the Body of Christ, made of Jew and Gentile without Israel’s covenants (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:11–22).
• Paul’s gospel was not prophecy fulfilled, but a new, unprophesied program (Rom. 16:25).
• Even in Paul’s lifetime, all they which were in Asia turned away from him (2 Tim. 1:15) meaning his distinct message was already being abandoned.
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2. Post-Apostolic Period: Early Church Corruption (2nd–4th Centuries)
• As Paul’s authority faded, Peter, James, and John were elevated in the eyes of the early “church fathers.”
• Writers like Origen, Tertullian, and Augustine began allegorizing Scripture and collapsing the difference between Israel and the Church.
• The church began adopting water baptism, priesthood, sacraments, and covenant theology all rooted in Israel’s program.
• The mystery was buried under a mountain of tradition, and Paul’s gospel was ignored.
• The rise of the Roman Catholic Church (from Rome, not Jerusalem) marked a new system of control and ritual, completely foreign to Paul’s epistles.
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3. The Dark Ages: The Mystery Silenced (5th–15th Centuries)
• For nearly a thousand years, the world was under Roman Catholic dominance.
• The Bible was locked in Latin (the Vulgate), and common people were denied access to Scripture.
• The doctrines of grace, free justification, and Paul’s mystery were nearly extinguished.
• Yet small groups such as the:
• Paulicians (Armenia, 600s–800s)
• Bogomils (Balkans)
• Waldensians (Alps, 1100s–1400s)
…may have retained fragments of truth, particularly in their rejection of Rome, Scripture over tradition, and rejection of works-based salvation. However, we find no solid evidence of full Pauline right division in these groups.
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4. The Reformation: Sola Fide, but Not Right Division (16th Century)
• Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli rediscovered justification by faith (Rom. 5:1), but they never rightly divided the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).
• They retained:
• Acts 2 as the start of the church
• Covenant theology
• Infant baptism (Lutherans, Calvinists)
• Confused Israel’s promises with the Church
• Calvin’s doctrine of predestination and limited atonement contradicted Paul’s message of free justification by grace (Rom. 3:24; 1 Tim. 2:6).
• The Reformation recovered the Bible, but not the fellowship of the mystery.
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5. Baptist Separatists, Dissenters, and Early Dispensationalists (17th–19th Centuries)
• Some Baptist groups began rejecting infant baptism, state-church unions, and covenant theology.
• Baptist dissenters began focusing more on Scripture, the local church, and salvation by grace through faith.
• In the 1800s, John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren laid the foundation for dispensationalism. Darby rightly saw:
• Israel and the Church as distinct in prophecy
• The need to rightly divide the Scriptures
• A pre-tribulation rapture
• However, Darby’s system still failed to break from tradition:
• He taught the Church began in Acts 2, not with Paul.
• He retained water baptism.
• He never fully understood the mystery revealed to Paul.
• By holding to Acts 2 and water baptism, Darby unknowingly blurred the line between Israel and the Body of Christ, showing he did not fully recognize their doctrinal distinction.
• The groundwork was laid, but the mid-Acts position had not yet been defined.
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6. The Recovery of Paul’s Gospel: Mid-Acts Pauline Teachers (20th Century)
• In the early 1900s, Pastor J.C. O’Hair began to clearly see the distinct message of Paul and rejected Acts 2 as the birthday of the Church.
• He taught that the Church, the Body of Christ, began with the salvation and commissioning of Paul (Acts 9).
• He also began to question and later reject water baptism, seeing that it had no place in the mystery program (1 Cor. 1:17).
• Others followed, including:
• Cornelius Stam (Berean Bible Society)
• Charles F. Baker (Grace Bible College)
• Richard Jordan (Grace School of the Bible)
• Modern ministries like Grace Ambassadors, Discerning the Times Publishing, and others
• These men held firm to:
• Salvation by grace alone (1 Cor. 15:1–4; Rom. 3:24–28)
• No water baptism in the mystery (Eph. 4:5)
• The distinction between Israel’s prophetic program and the Body’s mystery program
• The complete Bible rightly divided (2 Tim. 2:15) with Paul as the pattern (1 Tim. 1:16)
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7. Today: A Remnant Doctrine Still Rejected by Most
• Even now, Mid-Acts Pauline truth is a minority view.
• Most of Christendom Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics — do not rightly divide.
• They mix Israel’s program with the Body of Christ:
• Preaching Matthew, Acts 2, James, and Revelation as if it applies to us
• Teaching water baptism, tithing, and covenant blessings
• Yet God is still using a small remnant to proclaim the fellowship of the mystery — a truth unknown to the early church fathers, rejected by reformers, and ignored by mainstream churches.
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Final Exhortation: Stand Fast in Paul’s Gospel
“But none of these things move me… that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” – Acts 20:24
“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” – Romans 2:16
The mystery revealed to Paul was hidden from ages and generations, but now made manifest. It is our job to make all men see (Eph. 3:9), even if it means we walk alone. The Body of Christ was never promised a kingdom, signs, or numbers only a heavenly position, spiritual blessings, and grace in a present evil world.